How many children do you have? How many did you plan on having?

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Techarita

Staff member

Administrator

Joined

Dec 15, 1998

• Jul 4, 2015

• #81

I have two children (adults now). When I first got married, I thought four children would be nice. I always liked large families. However, we had a boy, then a girl, and then the marriage started to go south, so no more children. I'm very happy with the two that I have now, and cannot imagine it any other way.

 

Vicki926

Mouseketeer

Joined

Feb 3, 2015

• Jul 4, 2015

• #82

We figured we'd have 3. We're both one of 3.
We had our daughter, then less than 2 years later, our son.
Didn't say we were done, but weren't doing anything about it, we never had that want another baby feeling after our second was born.
When my son was 3, that was it as far as we were concerned.
I didn't want more than a 3 year age gap, and my husband, who has 2 brothers who were 11 and 13 when he was born, said that if we had a big gap, then had a baby, we had to have another one soon after so that one didn't grow up almost an only like he did.
Uh, no. I'm not having 4 kids.
We were officially done.
My kids are 13 and 15 now and it's perfect for us.

 

dokey

Registered

Joined

Jun 23, 2015

• Jul 4, 2015

• #83

Zero and zero

 

L

luvwinnie

<font color=green>And how are YOU feeling?<br><fon

Joined

Sep 22, 2000

• Jul 4, 2015

• #84

Wanted none and had none.

 

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SEA333

DIS Veteran

Joined

May 11, 2013

• Jul 4, 2015

• #85

Always wanted 3, until I had the first one. Then it took years to want another one, she was born 1 day before older DS turned 4. I had my boy and my girl. I was good with the two. Then, Surprise!!! 19 months later, #3 was born. OK...so we got what we wanted with 3 kids, LOL, and I took care of eliminating the possibility of having another "surprise" again, the day after DS9 was born.

I love the three that we have, but I wouldn't have minded having another girl in our lives so that DD could have a sister. I grew up with 4 sisters and I know what she is missing. I'm not a baby person (I LOVED when my kids were out of the infant/toddler stage), so if the opportunity would have come around for us to adopt a 4-5 year old when little DS was about 6 or so, we would have done it. Luckily, we have been blessed with DD having some terrific girls in her life, whether it is cousins, friends, family friends, etc.

Oh, well. I have three great kids - that is all I can ask for!

 

Last edited: Jul 4, 2015

aristocatz

DIS Veteran

Joined

Feb 22, 2009

• Jul 4, 2015

• #86

monica9 said:

We have 1 DD but can't have our second. Still debating on adoption. I figured I'd ask this question just out of curiosity since we only talk about Disney on this site for the most part.

How many children do you have?
How many did you want to have?
Are you happy with the amount you have if it varies from what you thought you wanted/planned on having?

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We have two children-both girls. I would have been happy with having boys or girls-as long as they were healthy-but I feel extra blessed to have my girls

We wanted to have exactly two, so we feel blessed & lucky, are very happy with how we ended up.

If I were to get pregnant again, I am not sure my initial reaction would be the same happiness-we are out of bedrooms and out of money lol! To be honest though, if we had the money & the space, I would have been fine having one more

 

Last edited: Jul 4, 2015

Terapin

DIS Veteran

Joined

Aug 20, 2007

• Jul 4, 2015

• #87

I always wanted 4-ish kids, but secretly dreamed of a larger family.

Had 3 with my ex-husband, and now pregnant with my new partner and due in October, and he has 2 daughters the same age as my youngest son. So this baby makes 6 - although we share parenting with the exes with the five kids. After this baby we are thinking one more - my age required fertility assistance so we will try for a second together, if we decide that's what we want to do, as soon as possible.

I adore having a big family. The kids get along very, very well. They've been to Japan together, and we have a WDW vacation planned for February, and travelling together is really fun (and tiring). Can't wait to have all the helpers with the baby (17, 15, 9, 9, 8).

We also have three dogs (two Dalmatians and a Standard Poodle), and four cats (2 rescue DSH and 2 Maine Coons). My friend says I have a chaos wish! I don't find it chaotic (much). Sometimes loud, sometimes I just go from one person's need to the next person's, but overall and given their age, we get lots of quiet time when the kids are outside, or in the basement, or just chilling. That's going to end soon with the baby! I am pretty relaxed, but organized, and bossy with the kids to keep the house from descending into mess and disorganization. But I think we have a nice balance of chores and helping out around the house, with free time and individual pursuits. I also have a cleaner come in twice a month to take on the heavy stuff.

 

Terapin

DIS Veteran

Joined

Aug 20, 2007

• Jul 4, 2015

• #88

BadgerGirl84 said:

I have one (age two next month) and another on the way.

I've always wanted three. In the midst of first trimester exhaustion and all day nausea for this pregnancy I was thinking, "I'm not sure I want to go through this again...maybe 2 is enough!" But now that I feel better in my second tri, I'm back on board with three.

I do sort of wish I had gotten married and started a family a couple years sooner. I want to be totally done by 34 and I turn 31 next month. If we have a third, it can't be spaced out all that far. I don't want to be one of those "old moms." Not that there is anything wrong with having kids later in life, my preference would be not to.

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I felt the same way. I was so pleased that I would be 40 and my kids would be teenagers, and then out of the house by 50. Until I didn't feel that way anymore and baby lust hit me. I was a mom at 25, 27 and 35, and now again at 43. I think I was a better mom at 35 than I was in my 20s: more patience, more perspective, less worry about what I was missing by being with a baby. When younger I found myself wishing to have more 'me-time', and was anxious for them to be more independent. My last baby was savoured and very little emotional stress - he just came with me everywhere and even to work at times.

I haven't found the pregnancy at 43 to be much different from the other pregnancies - but have had pretty easy pregnancies and no real trouble breastfeeding. I hope to be one of those very vibrant 60 year olds - like my Mom and Dad are. My Dad still hauls and chops his own heating wood at 70, and is really fit. My mom acts the same as she did when she was 40. I try to eat well and stay fit to keep my age as only a number, as long as I can. I work in a young field (producing comic books, novels and graphic novels for Disney, Pixar, Marvel and others) and so I hope that will keep my perspective young well into my middle age and beyond.

 

K

Katy Belle

DIS Veteran

Joined

Jan 20, 2004

• Jul 4, 2015

• #89

Wanted 3 boys, got 3 boys! They are now 20,18,15. The only time I regretted 3 is Disney vacations! Having that 5th person makes lodging rough! I love my 3 dudes!

 

DawnM

DIS Veteran

Joined

Oct 4, 2005

• Jul 4, 2015

• #90

Envisioned 2 kids.

I have three. The last one was NOT unplanned, he was actually adopted, but now I would love one more. It won't happen, we feel too old to adopt another.

 

star72232

DIS Veteran

Joined

Jun 6, 2013

• Jul 4, 2015

• #91

When we got married, DH and I knew we wanted at least 3 kids.

We had 3, and still knew we wanted another, so baby #4 became a reality. At that point, we both knew we were DONE!

We have 4 - 1 girl (10) and 3 boys (8, 5, almost 3). 4 kids in 7 years is fun, busy, loud - did I mention loud? That's it though!

 

Kitty 34

Hums in her sleep

Joined

Feb 16, 2000

• Jul 4, 2015

• #92

I have three boys. Never really planned on how many we would have.

 

lilia78

Waiting for Mickey

Joined

Jan 11, 2015

• Jul 4, 2015

• #93

I had 4, wanted more. While getting pregnant was very very easy, being pregnant was horrible on me, each one was worse. But delivery was easy. I was sick for 9 months with my youngest and had lost 30 pounds and ended up with a uterine infection after she was born. We decided that we just couldn't risk my health anymore, as it stands I have a lot of "female" issues.
I have 2 girls and 2 boys; 19 (almost 20), 18, 16 & 14. The oldest 2 are gone from home so I'm down to 2 at home and it is a very weird feeling; too quiet most days. If I could turn back time, I'd have more; although I'm not too old to have another (36) I no longer am able due to a hysterectomy.

 

minkydog

DIS Cast Member

Joined

Dec 8, 2004

• Jul 4, 2015

• #94

monica9 said:

We have 1 DD but can't have our second. Still debating on adoption. I figured I'd ask this question just out of curiosity since we only talk about Disney on this site for the most part.

How many children do you have?
How many did you want to have?
Are you happy with the amount you have if it varies from what you thought you wanted/planned on having?

Click to expand...

We have three. I would have liked to have at least one more, but it didn't work out. We got a late start and had some fertility issues. I had my third child, Christian, when I was 40 and he has a rare chromosome disorder which causes severe-profound intellectual impairment. He will always be our baby. After he was born, DH was adamant about not having anymore. At the time, I was hurt and angry, but in the end it was the right decision. DH became fully disabled about 3 years after Christian was born and it was so hard. I would have completely lost my mind if I had younger children.

 

D

Dawnlight

DIS Veteran

Joined

Mar 25, 2014

• Jul 4, 2015

• #95

Planned on 6 or 7 kids, have 6 and I'm done. I would have kept the possibility of more open after our last children, twins, but the recuperation from the pregnancy and delivery made the decision for me- no more babies.

I naively thought things would be easier as they got older and more independent, but I'm losing more sleep now with 3 teens and 3 pre-teens than I ever lost with infants (including twins!). I know it's a phase, and we'll be out of this season soon enough, but this period in my life has me thinking whether my plans for a large family was a sane decision.

 

Last edited: Jul 5, 2015

Pea-n-Me

DIS Veteran

Joined

Jul 18, 2004

• Jul 4, 2015

• #96

We were on the fence for a long while, then decided on one, not really looking beyond that.

Had an unexpected struggle, but fortunately, wound up with boy/girl twins, which was perfect.

 

brooke789

DIS Veteran

Joined

Feb 25, 2013

• Jul 4, 2015

• #97

I guess we had a couple of surprises! We never really had a set number planned. After trying for our first we were surprised with two! We were indecisive after that about another baby. Probably leaning towards not having more as they were older/more independent. Then surprise #3! (We luckily were only surprised with one this time!) After that things have been taken care of and 3 is it!

 

A

Andtototoo

DIS Veteran

Joined

Nov 23, 2010

• Jul 5, 2015

• #98

SEA333 said:

I love the three that we have, but I wouldn't have minded having another girl in our lives so that DD could have a sister. I grew up with 4 sisters and I know what she is missing.

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But that's only what you think she is missing. She could have had a sister and they could have fought like cats and dogs and never been friends. To be honest, I've seen that more often than I've seen sisters get along great. So that is one regret I would not worry about!

 

monica9

DIS Veteran

Joined

May 3, 2011

• Jul 5, 2015

• #99

Andtototoo said:

But that's only what you think she is missing. She could have had a sister and they could have fought like cats and dogs and never been friends. To be honest, I've seen that more often than I've seen sisters get along great. So that is one regret I would not worry about!

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This makes me feel better considering my poor daughter doesnt even have a brother so I feel she is missing out on just having a sibling in general.

 

S

SEA333

DIS Veteran

Joined

May 11, 2013

• Jul 5, 2015

• #100

Andtototoo said:

But that's only what you think she is missing. She could have had a sister and they could have fought like cats and dogs and never been friends. To be honest, I've seen that more often than I've seen sisters get along great. So that is one regret I would not worry about!

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No....

I get what you are saying, but I cannot buy into it with my DD/sisters/family. I have 4 sisters and yes, we fought like cats and dogs, and hated each other when we were 13, and stole each other's clothes and shoes, and hated how my mom babied one of us and always stuck up for another, and made excuses for the one, and went through our parents divorces on different sides of the issues and us older ones raised our little sisters when our mom left and hated every second of it....

And yet, we stood up for each other. And cried to each other after we fought. Lived through each of our ups and downs, and boyfriends and marriages and kids and our crazy (literally) mother and distant father, together. Planned bridal and baby showers until we never wanted to plan another one. Had Sweet 16 parties, 19 parties (we lived near Canada in the days before passports were required and the drinking age was 19!), and 21st birthdays, and bachelorette parties, and every other thing that sisters do - good and bad.

My daughter sees her mom (me) and aunts when we get together at our (at least) 2x-year "all in" weekends (all 5 of us and our brother, and our families, all together at one of our houses for the weekend - BEST WEEKENDS EVER!!!), and she sees what it is like having sisters. She knows that other than her, her brothers, and DH, my 4 favorite people in the entire world are my sisters. She often talks about it with me.

Ironically, every one of us had a boy first, then a girl (if we had a second child) and then a boy if there is a 3rd. Not one of the 5 of us us have 2 girls. We all wish, if we could change one thing, that our daughters had a sister. We just don't have the "hate" factor that some families have. I know it is possible, but not very likely, that my DD would have hated a sister.

But it's OK....I always wanted a brother (my half-brother was born when I was 14), and my DD has two. She is so comfortable around boys and I never was.

Families usually turn out exactly they way they are supposed to!

 

Last edited: Jul 5, 2015